Friday, 29 March, 2024

FOCUS: REGULATION

CMS seeks to place Netcare scheme under curatorship

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In yet another clash with the healthcare industry, and following recent accusations of hostility and harassment, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) has applied to place Netcare Medical Scheme under curatorship, writes MedicalBrief. Netcare Medical Scheme is opposing the application by the CMS, accusing the regulator of lacking justification, and with Craig Taylor, principal officer of the Netcare Medical Scheme, saying the application related to a technical issue from 2022 that had been corrected at the time. “We believe the curatorship...

FOCUS: PUBLIC HEALTH

Communities mourn murdered medics

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The medical fraternity has been hit with more tragedy with the unrelated murders of two healthcare workers this week; a Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal paediatrician, Dr Zamambo Siphokazi Mkhize, and a Westbury, Johannesburg pharmacist, Faizel "Faya" McKenzie. This comes shortly after a Pietermaritzburg pharmacist was gunned down at a busy intersection in Plessislaer, and Donbsonville doctor Michael Isabelle was murdered in his surgery last month. None of the incidents are related. The Witness reports that Mkhize’s VW Polo was found abandoned in Imbali...

NEWS UPDATE

Only 270 out of 800 unemployed doctors placed

Out of the 800 unemployed doctors who recently petitioned the National Department of Health for jobs, just 270 have been appointed across the country, despite promises that funding would be made available for them to be hired. According to the Health Ministry, the “process of advertising and recruitment of health...

Eastern Cape Health starts year owing billions in unpaid bills

The Eastern Cape Department of Health, which owes suppliers R4.8bn, is in an increasingly fragile financial position – with critics saying there is no political will to remedy the situation. The unpaid bills are for vial supplies, fleet services, phone bills, medicine, medical gas and municipal services for the province’s...

Eli Lilly warns of insulin shortages

Two formulations of insulin from Eli Lilly would be temporarily out of stock until the beginning of April, the company has said, citing a “brief delay in manufacturing”. Both the 10ml vials of Humalog and insulin lispro injection will be in short supply, but as it continues to manufacture the...

Call to declare TB a national crisis

Hundreds of people marched to the Department of Health in Pretoria last week, urging the government to escalate measures to tackle the problem of TB, which, although preventable and treatable, killed more than 50 000 South Africans in 2022. Led by organisations including the TB Accountability Consortium and the Treatment...

FDA approves ‘world’s costliest drug’ for children with MLD

A new gene therapy for the fatal genetic disorder metachromatic leukodystrophy, or MLD, will carry a wholesale price of a whopping $4.25m, its manufacturer announced last week as the FDA approved what is now the world’s most expensive medicine. Lenmeldy is the first therapy for the rare and devastating paediatric...

Kenya faces health crisis as doctors strike looms

Kenyan doctors countrywide, including those in private hospitals, have given a seven-day ultimatum to the government under threat of a nationwide strike. They doctors are demanding better working conditions, implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and medical cover and resolution to migratory problems to a new national health service,...

Global leaders call for urgent agreement on pandemic deal

A group of more than 100 global leaders has called for governments to reach agreement on an international deal to prepare for and prevent future pandemics, saying, in an open letter, that the decision is critical for their collective future. The signatories, from all continents and fields of politics, economics...

‘Store acne cream in fridge to cut cancer risk – US experts

Some dermatologists are now recommending people refrigerate benzoyl peroxide products like Proactiv and Clearasil, after an independent lab in the United States found they were contaminated with the potent carcinogen benzene. The American Acne & Rosacea Society said storing benzoyl peroxide creams, gels and washes at refrigerated temperatures could minimise...

Woman (81) dies after removal of ‘stone baby’ foetus

A Brazilian woman has died after surgery to remove an ultra-rare “stone baby” she had been carrying inside her for around 56 years, the calcified foetus only being detected after a scan for stomach ache. The scan was taken after Daniela Almeida Vera (81) had originally sought help for a...

Trio ‘bust’ for allegedly selling medicines to teens

Three KZN men have been arrested after police found them in possession of Schedule 5 medication, which they were allegedly selling to teenagers. One of the men is employed at a local pharmacy, and SAPS said they were found with boxes of cough mixture and Mylan Alprazolam tablets – Xanax, reports...

Temporary ambulance numbers as Eastern Cape phones cut

With Telkom lines to most Eastern Cape Department of Health facilities being cut due to non-payment of bills, the phone numbers of ambulance bases have temporarily been changed – but only after desperate patients had to beg private emergency services for help. Department spokesperson MK Ndamase confirmed the lines had...

MEDICO-LEGAL

Hospital liable for child’s blindness

Gauteng Health can expect to fork out millions after a court confirmed a child’s blindness resulted from negligence at a state hospital after her premature birth in 2015. The mother had alleged her daughter’s condition was caused by staff negligence at the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Vosloorus, and that doctors...

Medico-legal payouts soar countrywide

In the past four years, the National Department of Health has coughed up R23.6bn in medico-legal claims countrywide, with all provinces seemingly unable to stem the unceasing tide of money due to claimants and their lawyers. Thousands of lawsuits, costing the taxpayer billions, have been brought against the national and...

Discovery's contempt case against RAF moves a step closer

A full Bench of three judges is to hear the contempt of court application brought by Discovery Health against the financially stressed Road Accident Fund (RAF) following preliminary hearings earlier this month. Discovery Health launched the application against the RAF and CEO Collins Letsoalo in November 2023 because of the...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

CARDIOLOGY

Cardiotoxicity risks after chemo treatment

With advances in cancer treatments, comes the risk of long-term health effects, including "cardiotoxicity". Steven Petrow, writing in The Washington Post, says in 1984, he was treated for testicular cancer with a then-revolutionary new cocktail of medications known as PVB (the platinum-based drug cisplatin plus vinblastine and bleomycin). But, he writes...

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Smokers more likely to carry belly fat linked to disease risk – Danish study

Smokers may have more belly fat – particularly visceral fat – than non-smokers, even if they tend to generally have lower body weight than non-smokers, research suggests. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds the internal organs in the abdomen and is linked to a higher risk of heart disease,...

OBSTETRICS

Plunging global fertility rates will lead to big world divide

Fertility rates in nearly all countries will be too low to sustain population levels by the end of the century, and most of the world's live births will be occurring in poorer countries, according to a global study. This, said researchers, will lead to a “baby boom” and “baby bust”...

NEUROLOGY

Autism risk may rise with in-utero anti-seizure meds – US study

A study by American researchers suggests that the incidence of autism spectrum disorder is higher among children exposed to topiramate in the second half of pregnancy compared with the general population of children without exposure to anti-seizure medications in utero. Sonia Hernández‑Díaz, MD DrPH from the Harvard TH Chan School...

TB

Blood test could ID unwitting TB carriers – global study

Scientists say they are close to developing a blood test that could identify millions of people who spread tuberculosis unknowingly, after discovering a group of biological markers that are found in high levels among infectious patients. The study, led by the University of Southampton with collaboration from the University of...